CJ ONLINE 2008.09.03

Great Moments in Greek Archaeology. By PANOS VALAVANIS, ed. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty, 2007. Pp. 379. Cloth, $75.00. ISBN 978–0– 89236–910–2.

Valavanis, who has excavated widely, given papers at many Greek and international conferences and authored 15 books including ar- chaeological guides and books for the general public as well as books for teachers and students, has assembled an international group of archaeologists to produce this stunning book. His goal was to pub- lish a book devoted not to archaeological finds or important archaeo- logical sites, but to the story of how these finds and sites were dis- covered. The many sensational photos enhance the moments of ar- chaeological discovery, and the accompanying texts allow readers to share in the great discoveries of those who first saw the masterpieces retrieved from the earth or the sea.

Other books have surveyed the archeological discoveries of Greece. Among these are Raymond V. Schoder, Wings Over Hellas: Ancient Greece from the Air (New York, 1974); Manolis Andronicos, Manolis Chatzidakis and Vassos Karageorghis, The Greek Museums (, 1975); and Georg Gerster, The Past From Above: Aerial Photographs of Archaeological Sites (Los Angeles, 2005), which is not limited to Greek archaeological sites. But none of these offers the scope and depth of Valvanis’ volume, which tells a fascinating archaeological story. I was reminded of Irving Stone’s The Greek Treasure: A Biographical Novel of Henry and Sophia Schliemann (New York, 1975), which fol- lows Schliemann’s search for the city of Troy and the royal tombs of .

Before the book’s story begins, Vasilios Petrakos, General Secretary of the Archaeological Society of Athens, surveys the stages of Greek archaeology. From the Battle of Navarino in 1827 to the excavation at Akrotiri on Thera in 1967 and continuing to 2006, he divides the archaeology of Greece into clear chronological and political periods which include phases that belong to the activities of the foreign ar- chaeological schools. The most prominent among these are the French School founded in 1846, the German in 1874, the American in 1881 and the British in 1886. Petrakos also looks at the impressive finds in Macedonia, museum catalogues, inscriptions, museums and finally rescue excavations, publications and temporary archaeologists.

The next 15 sections of the book focus on the archaeological stories of Greek sites as told by archaeologists currently or formerly working in the field. Each section, reproducing fine original photographs, oil- paintings, watercolors, engravings, plans, reconstructions and por- traits, surveys in detail the early and modern archaeological history BOOK REVIEW of the site. In chronological order these are: the Athenian Acropolis in the 19th century; Kerameikos I, Discovery of the Ancient Cemetery (1863); Kerameikos II, Archaic Sculptures of the Sacred Gate (2002); Delos, Excavation of the Sacred Island of Apollo (1873); Olympia, Excavations and Discoveries at the Great Sanctuary (1875); Schlie- mann and Homer’s “Mycenae Rich in Gold” (1876); Delphi, Excava- tion of the Great Oracular Centre (1892); , Discovery of the Minoan Palace (1901); Sesklo and Dimini, Prehistoric Citadels (1903); Poliochni on Lemnos, Earliest City in Europe (1930); The Athenian Agora, Encounter with the First Democracy (1931); “Royal” Tombs at Salamis in Cyprus (1957); Akrotiri on Thera, Excavation of a Buried City (1967); Vergina, on the Tracks of the Macedonian Kings (1977); and Dispolio near Kastoria, Prehistoric Lake Settlement (1992).

Delphi, the Excavation of the Great Oracular Centre (pp. 134–57), for example, by Dominique Mulliez, Director of the French School at Athens since 2002, surveys the archaeological history of one of the greatest Panhellenic centers of antiquity. With beautiful engravings, reconstructions, drawings, plans and photographs, Mulliez chronicles the site prior to the great excavation in 1892 and gives proper place to the sensational finds of the Archaic statues of Kleobis and Biton, the statue of Antinoös, the Bronze Charioteer, the Sphinx of the Nax- ians and the marble omphalos. The museum and subsequent excava- tions are also covered. In the end, Muillez remarks, the story of the Great Excavation of Delphi is something of a disappointment. The excavation of the temple of Apollo, for instance, did not live up to ex- pectations. Few characteristic architectural features—not one metope or frieze fragment, or even a little toe of a pedimental figure—was found. On the other hand, the Delphi excavations have produced some definitive finds in architecture, epigraphy and sculpture, chief- ly archaic sculpture. Delphi itself, and what is yet to be learned from the site, still attracts scholars and visitors from around the world.

Poliochni on Lemnos (pp. 196–201), the Earliest City in Europe, by Alberto G. Benvenuti, General Secretary of the Italian Archaeological School at Athens since 2000, is among the most fascinating of these 15 sections. Though the Poliochni excavation is not widely known, the discovery there in 1934 of the first settlement of urban character in Europe remains one of the great moments of Greek archaeology. Lemnos may have been settled by the non-Hellenic Tyrrhenians, whose name and language were connected with the Etruscans in Italy, before Lemnos was captured by Athens around 500 BC. As early as 1923, archaeologists believed that Lemnos might preserve traces of the passage of the Etruscans on their way from the East. In

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1886, a 6th-century BC stele, with the relief head of a warrior and in- scriptions resembling Etruscan lettering, was found at Kaminia near Poliochni on Lemnos. Poliochni itself was shown to be one of the earliest proto-urban settlements in Europe, dating from the Early in the north Aegean, its architectural and cultural devel- opment spanning the whole third millennium BC. The 1956 season at Poliochni began with an unexpected discovery by Luigi Brea: during the clearing of vegetation from the area of excavation, a jewelry hoard was found in one of the rooms of the megaron of the Yellow Period that had been discovered in 1953. This hoard closely resem- bled the so-called “Treasure of Priam” found by Schliemann in the second city at Troy. Poliochni’s geographical location on the sea route between the islands and the Asia Minor coast made it a safe haven for sea communications between North and South from the start of the third millennium. Thus, Poliochni may be placed at the interface between the civilized world of the East, where the urban revolution had already taken place, and Europe, where it had not yet appeared. The city’s economy, and therefore its importance, was based on its early involvement with metals and maritime commer- cial activity with the Hellespont and settlements around the Black Sea. Poliochni may thus be described as the earliest city in Europe.

In Great Moments in Marine Archaeology, three marine archeolo- gists discuss the importance of ancient shipwrecks. Susan Katzev reconstructs in narrative and photos the Ancient Ship of Kyrenia, Beneath Cyprus Seas. Harry Tzalas tells of his work to build a full- scale replica of that Ancient Ship of Kyrenia in The Kyrenia II, an At- tempt in Experimental Archaeology. In Uluburun, a Bronze-Age Shipwreck, George Bass narrates a tantalizing account of the loss and modern recovery of a late 14th-century BC cargo ship carrying pre- cious artifacts.

In Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture See the Light of Day, four spe- cialists recount the discovery of some of the world’s most treasured sculptures. Aliki Samara-Kauffmann, from the Antiquities Depart- ment of the Louvre, recounts in detail the story of the discovery in 1820 of the Aphrodite of Melos and its journey from Greece to its current home in Paris. Samara-Kauffmann also tells the story of the discovery of the Victory of Samothrace in 1863 and its voyage from Samothrace via Constantiople and Piraeus to the port of Toulon and finally to the Louvre in 1864. In the Piraeus Bronze Statues, Georgios Steinhauer reveals that the bronzes discovered in 1959 are now the pride of the Piraeus Museum and are among the very few works of large-scale sculpture in which the spirit of ancient Greek art is still preserved with its original clarity. The bronze statues represent

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Apollo, Artemis and Athena. In Memories of Phrasikleia, Evangelos Kakavoyiannis follows the discovery in 1972 at Merenda in Attica of two Archaic marble statues, one of which depicts the kore Phrasikleia and the other, a kouros, “her brother.” These beautiful statues grace the cover of this book. Helmut Kyrieleis, in the Large Kouros of Samos, tells of the unexpected discovery in 1980 at the Heraion on Samos of a colossal Archaic marble kouros (almost 5 meters tall). In the final installment, Bronze Statues from the Depths of the Sea, Harry Tzalas offers us exceptional stories surrounding the discovery and retrieval from the sea of 19 bronze statues, all considered mas- terpieces today. There is the Apollo of Piombino (ca. 480 BC), the first statue to have been retrieved from the sea in 1832; an original Posei- don (ca. 460 BC) from the Corinthian Gulf; the Youth of Antikythera (ca. 340–330 BC); the head of the Antikythera Philosopher (ca. 240 BC); the Marathon Boy (ca. 340–300 BC), likely an original from the workshop of Praxiteles; the majestic of Artemision (ca. 460 BC); the young Jockey on horseback (ca. 140 BC) from Cape Artemision; the Autostephanoumenos (ca. 340 BC), a victorious athlete, consid- ered an original by Lysippos; the Philosopher of Porticello head (ca. 420–410 BC), probably one of the earliest Greek portraits; the Youth of Agde (ca. 2nd century BC) from Southern France, resembling Alex- ander after Lysippos; the famous Riace Warriors (ca. 460 BC), thought to be the work of Pheidias and, with the Zeus of Artemision, consid- ered the supreme works of this period; the equestrian statue of Au- gustus (late 1st century BC); the athletic Youth (Hellenistic) from Kyme; the Apoxyomenos of Vele Orjule in Croatia, a Roman copy after Lysippos; head of a male wearing Macedonian hat (Hellenistic); life-size female statue (Hellenistic); and a young nude athlete (Early Roman Imperial Period) after Polykleitos.

A comprehensive bibliography of each subject appears at the end of the book. Full biographical notes on each contributor follow. Sources of illustrations, a glossary and an index complete the volume.

Great Moments in Greek Archaeology is intended for readers who want to learn about the important archaeological discoveries in Greece from the 19th century to the present. With both scholarly and anecdo- tal accounts, this reasonably priced and beautifully illustrated volume will appeal to the professional archaeologist, the scholar, the advanced student or anyone fascinated by stories about some of the greatest archaeological discoveries in Greece over the past two centuries.

PAUL PROPERZIO Boston Latin Academy